Greil Marcus Quotes

A collection of quotes by Greil Marcus.

Greil Marcus is a renowned American author, music critic, and cultural commentator. Born in 1945, he rose to prominence in the 1970s with his influential book "Mystery Train: Images of America in Rock 'n' Roll Music," which explores the connections between American culture, history, and popular music. Marcus has written extensively on music, politics, and American experience, with his work appearing in notable publications such as Rolling Stone and The New York Times. He has authored numerous books and continues to be an influential voice in the field of music criticism.

No failure in America, whether of love or money, is ever sim

No failure in America, whether of love or money, is ever simple it is always a kind of betrayal, of a mass of shadowy, shared hopes.

The moments of perfect pleasure in Johnson's songs, and the

The moments of perfect pleasure in Johnson's songs, and the beauty of those songs, remind one that it is not the simple presence of evil that is unbearable; what is unbearable is the impossibility of reconciling the facts of evil with the beauty of the world.

Beauty Impossibility

Patriotism in America, as I understand it, is a matter of su

Patriotism in America, as I understand it, is a matter of suffering, when the country fails to live up to its promises, or actively betrays them.

Rock 'n Roll is a combination of good ideas dried up by fads

Rock 'n Roll is a combination of good ideas dried up by fads, terrible junk, hideous failings in taste and judgment, gullibility and manipulation, moments of unbelievable clarity and invention, pleasure, fun, vulgarity, excess, novelty and utter enervation.

We fight our way through the massed and leveled collective s

We fight our way through the massed and leveled collective safe taste of the Top 40, just looking for a little something we can call our own. But when we find it and jam the radio to hear it again it isn't just ours -- it is a link to thousands of others who are sharing it with us. As a matter of a single song this might mean very little; as culture, as a way of life, you can't beat it.

It is a sure sign that a culture has reached a dead end when

It is a sure sign that a culture has reached a dead end when it is no longer intrigued by its myths.

Mythology Myths

It may be that the most interesting American struggle is the

It may be that the most interesting American struggle is the struggle to set oneself free from the limits one is born to, and then to learn something of the value of those limits.

Applause that comes thundering with such force you might thi

Applause that comes thundering with such force you might think the audience merely suffers the music as an excuse for its ovations.

No failure in America, whether of love or money, is ever sim

No failure in America, whether of love or money, is ever simple; it is always a kind of betrayal, of a mass of shadowy, shared hopes.